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Wednesday, February 07, 2007

How To Conquer the World: Part One

America’s return on the bazillions of dollars we have spent on armaments since the end of WWII must represent the worst investment in the history of mankind. Korea, Viet Nam, and now Iraq represent military failures to all but the most deluded of neo-cons. However, these three conflicts are all but microscopic compared to the countless other skirmishes we have won during this same timeframe without firing a shot. I am talking of our artistic, cultural, linguistic, and technological hegemony.

The problem is that our most recent failure, Bush’s debacle in Iraq, is working to undermine our leadership in fields other than warfare. People around the world still look to the United States, and the English speaking world, as a beacon for entertainment, invention, scientific achievement, and many other lifestyle issues, but it seems that our influence has been waning. Americaphilia, if there is such a word—and there should be, is losing a bit of its old vigor thanks to some poor foreign policy choices by the present administration in Washington.

In my travels I have never come across anything that in any way could be construed as Anti-American. Sure, I’ve heard a bit of criticism for something our country has done but I have never experienced anything unpleasant on a personal level simply because I am American. Most foreigners have an overly-romanticized vision of our country because of movies, pop music, and American products. I’m sure that the most extreme left-wing radicals and proto-fascist radicals watch The Simpsons, of whatever they call it in their countries.

A shining example of America’s military impotence is our stance towards Cuba. This tiny island nation has stood in defiance of the Goliath 90 miles to its north for 45 years. It has been able to do so not in spite of our military and economic blockade, but because of it. How long would Castro been able to holds the reins of power if we had simply opened our doors to Cuba and cooperated with the makers of their popular revolution. I say this with a certain amount of cynicism but slogans like Viva la Revolución are no match for Have a Coke and a Smile, the latest CD from Modest Mouse, or the third season of Entourage.

George Bush never traveled overseas before he was president. This would not be so remarkable for a working class American as travel takes time and money, but Bush came from one of the nation’s wealthiest families. His refusal to travel shows an astounding lack of curiosity on his part. What he would have learned had he used a passport in his earlier years is that America’s influence around the world is immeasurable. The voice of America—and by this I don’t mean the silly propaganda apparatus, Voice of America—is clear and constant throughout the world. Instead of smart bombs and Bradley fighting vehicles, we should realize that we have a much more effective technique for getting our message heard around the world. I’m not sure we know what our message is exactly. We should probably work on that first.

Movies, music, and books in English are louder than bombs. Any native English speaker quickly realizes this when traveling in countries where our language is not spoken. The other day I was waiting in the metro station when a Beatle’s song came on over the P.A. system. I looked around me and almost everyone was silently singing along to “If I Fell.” I can’t imagine that we could ever develop a weapon with the power of this three minute song.

The problem right now is that it is difficult for much of the world to see past the mistakes that we have made, or make that the mistakes Bush has made, to see the aspects of our culture that are highly admirable. We should learn that we have solved very few problems with the might of our military but we every day we are conquering the world with our popular culture.

No one has ever been able to tell me what victory will look like in Iraq. Not even the most ardent neo-conservatives can articulate their most hopeful vision for that country. If we were to pull out today I can’t see how things would be much worse than if we stay another year of two. I said this same thing three years ago. I don’t think anyone is willing or stupid enough to come in and try to restore order after we leave.

I have always felt that terrorism is a law and order problem and requires good police work. Applying a military solution to a police problem just seems to be asking for trouble, and trouble is what we got. Most people are now of the opinion that we have created more problems by invading Iraq than we ever hoped to solve. I am not one to say “I told you so” but in the case of the Iraq invasion I did say that it was a terrible idea. It is disturbing to go back and read what the neo-con pundits were saying in the days leading up to the invasion and the “triumphant” weeks thereafter. The worst part about this is how they ridiculed, demonized, and questioned the patriotism of anyone who didn’t agree with them.

I think it is essential that liberals see to it that people do not forget the outlandish claims the neo-cons were making about the Iraqi invasion. We need to throw their words back at them before they get a chance to rewrite their own history as so many of them are doing. Like rats from a sinking ship conservatives are trying to distance themselves from the Bush administration. It’s called “covering your ass” in the language of the military.

Andrew Sullivan, conservative jackass and wrong on just about everything having to do with this war, is a good example to cite when chronicling the arrogance of the right in the immediate aftermath of the invasion. In his blog post of April 1, 2003 he mocks the dire predictions of some journalists about the difficulty involved in invading and occupying Iraq. He closes the post with the admonition, “There's more accounting to do. “ Yes there is and we must do it.

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